Laundry Room
Before & After
I Love To Do Laundry
Who says that?
Maybe I can start with the fact that it is the only room no one enters, so it is all mine. It looks exactly how I left it at all times. I certainly can't say that about any other space in our home.
We are a family that lives, and there is nothing better than having life in the house. However, on many days, I want to scream to have some order.
Let's start with OCD. When it comes to large surfaces, I love to clean them. I share this trait with my brother and my brother-in-law, so I know I am not the only one with this quirk. The minute I get the countertop, table, or desk cleaned to perfection, the second I leave the room and return, it is covered with someone else's crap, usually my husband's crap. I love him, but he is a magnet to a large clean surface for his multiple piles.
The point is, when it comes to the laundry room, this never happens. I forbid my husband from entering the laundry room. My fear is his help will get me out of my routine. As a result, the laundry room management is under my complete control.
The Laundry Room Remodel is brilliant. Please indulge me because this is the room where I spend most of my time, and it is always perfect.
Laundry Room Before, Mental Block
Can you believe I love to do laundry?
I just kept hope knowing my life would change.
I don't even know how to describe this.
This gives new meaning to my redneck mess.
Patience.
Yup. 15+ years and I am starting to think my middle name is Job.
Number One favorite laundry room image because it had all the components.
Shaker Cabinets. Butcher Block Shelf. Sink. Non-front load Washer & Dryer configuration. There was not a folding shelf on top of these front loaders which meant my top loader would work.
Image above showed laundry room with sink in the center. Clean look with cool lantern as the light fixture.
Loved the shelves with the glass containers.
All white laundry room with butcher block shelf provided the look I was after.
Still trying to imagine how I built this house in 1998 before the internet was a thing. Pictures are worth a 1000 words and these images had it all.
John's Creek Laundry Room
John's Creek home had a nice laundry room shown above so I only had to deal with the disaster when we went to the lake.
How Did I Live With This?
Need to be honest and transparent here...never a fan of the front loaders.
Every appliance we have ever owned has been a scratch and dent. My husband camps out at Home Depot & Lowe's waiting for the high priced floor models to go on sale.
The recycle bins, the toolbox, the watering can, the dog food, the dog dishes, the buckets, the yard spray, the car window fluid, the hedge clippers, the shoe bins.
Going to run out of room to try and name everything before I get to the laundry detergent and the laundry baskets.
For the record, as I am writing this laundry room detail, I am breaking out in hives.
The magnitude of embarrassment circulating through my veins is horrific.
Can you believe I love to do laundry?
The Remodel
Finally...The Show Was About To Begin
Where do you start?
Let's start with my motto, decorating is personal. Everyone has their own way of doing things. Because I am a visual person, I used Pinterest and specifically, laundry room images that had the same or similar footprint as our laundry room. For the record, almost every remodeled room in our home was designed based on an image of a room with a similar footprint. I have to see it and then I can make it my own.
My design person, Seden, from Carolina Closets was over the top fantastic. She helped design every closet in our home. She helped me turn one of our closets into a pantry. Because I had to wait on the master closet which was painful, I used her to design the laundry room.
The design for the Laundry Room...must haves: Entire bank of cabinets on back wall for hidden storage. Cabinets above washer and dryer for hidden storage. Stainless Steel sink. Do not want hubby dude bringing all of his paint brushes, clay covered items, Round-Up tank & wand into my kitchen and clean them in my brand new kitchen sink. Phew.
My designer went to work. Do not skimp on your cabinet contractors. If you do, you may end up with drawers hitting each other, entryway doors banging into cabinet doors…the screw ups can be ghastly. I marvel at the design detail my closet contractor was able to create to maximize the function of the space.
The placement of the open shelving is perfection. The door to the laundry room swings open and does not interfere with the pull out cabinet or any cabinet door. The open shelves hold my fabric laundry baskets. Seden incorporated a tall pull out closet to hold mops, brooms and any other oversized objects used for house cleaning.
Below is the original design for the laundry room.
In the original design, there was a hanging rod built in above the sink. Argh. This is going to sound goofy but I did not want my laundry room to look like a laundry room, clutter filled. I did not want to see clothes hanging when I looked into the laundry room.
I mentioned this to my designer and asked her to lose the hanging rod. I indicated that l would find a shelf to put in the space. She looked at me and said, we can add a butcher block shelf if you want. WHAT?!?!? Of course! That is exactly what I want
The Fun Stuff
Selecting Accessories
It's a laundry room. What accessories?
After months of Pinterest overdose, it was finally time to create the laundry room space using a minimalist approach. Keeping a clean and clutter free laundry room in such a small space meant very few accessories.
What is fun about very few accessories? For the laundry room space, it's not so much fun but strategic per se. Any accessory going in the laundry room needs to be functional. If it is not going to be used, it is not going in the laundry room. Clutter has become my enemy and the laundry room will not have clutter.
With cabinets galore, all of the uglies can be easily hidden. However, behind the cabinet doors, you will find order. Just because it is hidden, does not mean what is covered up is in chaos. My room, my rules. This house has never had a great deal of storage and the added cabinetry provides space we never had. Well, we had it but you see what that looked like in the pictures at the start of this page.
Beginning with the lighting, I chose a crystal flush mount chandelier. While I am not a person who sports bling, the laundry room needed a little sparkle. Kind of like the little bit of sparkle I wear with my Stila powder. Understated, yet noticeable. Because it is a flush mount light, you notice the shine before you notice the light. Unless you look up, you don't see the fixture thanks to the 9FT ceiling.
Next, I chose a fancy door knob. This was nothing I would have ever thought about were it not for my favorite influencer. Again, subtle bling and a shiny accessory on the inside and outside.
The Emtek doorknob with its inviting look is the perfect introduction to the newly remodeled laundry room.
As soon as I caught wind of the retractable clothes hanger, I realized this was the solution to the lack of having a hanging rod to dry the delicates. Hidden behind the door yet functional.
I chose to add some bling to the laundry room. It needed a little pop and this is a separate space from the rest of the house so the cohesive lake look is not as important.
The Emtek crystal door knob adds a surprise and is really only noticed when pointed out.
Wow, I am so edgy.
Ordered this glitzy flush mount light from Wayfair. I had a choice about lighting style in this room.
The ceilings are 9FT in the laundry room so I could have chosen a glitzy chandelier. It would have hung lower from the ceiling and would have been more noticeable.
Since I am not much of a bling person, I decided on the flush mount because it is more subtle and more my style.
I still needed a place to hang my wet & delicate clothes. Hanging clothes in the laundry room are necessary but ugly. The retractable clothes hanger is perfect.
Brilliant and behind the door. Yes, I can hang things here and not have it interfere with the door. Being the only one who enters this room, shocker, makes it a non-issue.
These glass jars are perfect. Love the size, the shape, the lids, and especially the knobs. They hold two items I use very often.
The first is the scent boosters I always add to my sheet loads and towel loads. Yummy fresh clean smell and I choose different colors when I run out to change it up.
Second are the dryer balls. These dudes are imperative to washing and drying anything down filled. Any down filled product like comforters or jackets require dryer balls when drying on low or no heat. Perfect.
The butcher block shelf breaks up the white cabinetry in the laundry room. All of the white from the cabinets to the washer and dryer can make a room feel sterile.
The designer helped tremendously when she offered this shelf option and it continues to be one of my favorite selections.
The purpose, the look and the function are timeless. This is the little bit of open shelving I have in my home and I love it.
The Sink Cabinet from Home Depot.
Okay, so this is not exactly a sexy accessory but it was vital to our laundry room remodel.
While I technically forbid my husband from entering the laundry room, I do give him free range to wash his red clay filled items. He cleans up really well and understands this space is not his. For me, it is way better than the kitchen sink for his cleanup usage.
The cabinet allows the pipes to be hidden & the trash can to be hidden. Clean looking cabinet and it was a perfect fit.
Cabinetry Above Washer & Dryer to Include Butcher Block Shelf
Full Wall of Cabinets Opposite Wall of Washer & Dryer
Remodeled Laundry Room With Walls of Cabinetry
Open Shelving Opposite Washer & Dryer for Fabric Baskets
The Nook To The Right...Minor Surprise Space For The Dyson, Lucky
Tall Cabinet for Mops, Brooms & Other Uglies
Finished Laundry Room In All of it's Glory